Morgan Stanley Raises Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Price Target to $205.00

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its price target increased by Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $205.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the information services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target suggests a potential upside of 19.81% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Pivotal Research upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Guggenheim raised their price target on Alphabet from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.51.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.9 %

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $171.11 on Wednesday. Alphabet has a 12 month low of $122.68 and a 12 month high of $191.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $162.32 and its 200 day moving average is $168.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.11 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet will post 7.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total value of $109,420.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,136,807.48. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total transaction of $109,420.08. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,017 shares in the company, valued at $5,136,807.48. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.66, for a total value of $3,772,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,159,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $362,126,319.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 219,744 shares of company stock valued at $35,878,764 over the last quarter. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 7.4% during the first quarter. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY now owns 24,861 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,752,000 after acquiring an additional 1,720 shares in the last quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. grew its position in Alphabet by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 176,121 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,582,000 after purchasing an additional 2,727 shares during the last quarter. Saratoga Research & Investment Management increased its stake in Alphabet by 19.1% during the 1st quarter. Saratoga Research & Investment Management now owns 1,001,128 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $151,100,000 after purchasing an additional 160,884 shares in the last quarter. First Bank & Trust raised its holdings in Alphabet by 2.5% in the first quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 9,694 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,463,000 after buying an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.7% in the first quarter. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC now owns 21,355 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,223,000 after buying an additional 1,150 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Company Profile

Alphabet Inc offers various products and platforms in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and Latin America. It operates through Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets segments. The Google Services segment provides products and services, including ads, Android, Chrome, devices, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube.